XCOM 2 Nocturne
by mad thought
Summary: The Demi-fiend had succeeded and restored his old world, but he himself could not live in it for very long. He takes control of the Vortex World and rules the new demons and Manikins before looking for another Earth's humanity to look at. Not long after, XCOM discovers lots of ADVENT activity at a Black Site in Japan.
1. Brave New Worlds

**Hello everyone, mad thought here with a new story. Yes I should be focusing on some of my other works, but this one has been bugging me for a while and I wanted to get it out there. I wanted to do something a bit out of left field with a crossover nobody'd expect SMT Nocturne and XCOM 2. Now I should mention that I started writing this before War of the Chosen came out, so the time table on XCOM's side is pushed back when meeting the other factions. Plus if they have been fighting for over a decade, just the Commander coming back wouldn't immediately get them to stop suddenly to meet up. There would be debates and hesitation from in the factions.**

 **Just a forewarning, not a lot of XCOM in this chapter. This is more on post Nocturne with some creative tweaks on the ending. The** **prominence** **of the story will be taking place from XCOM's perspective as they try to understand what's going on. Shout out to METALHELLSPWN for characters that will appear in this story.**

 **Please enjoy and don't forget to comment, follow, and favorite. And no flames please, that absolutely kills my will to write anything.**

 **I own nothing except for my OCs and crazy ideas.**

"talking"

 _"thoughts"_

 **"powerful"**

* * *

Chapter 1: Brave New Worlds

The sun shone brightly in the afternoon, with wind blowing a cool breeze. Birds chirped and flew through the air, and dancing leaves added to the chorus. It wasn't too hot nor too cold outside. Yes, this day could be called perfect…. even if there was a funeral going on.

Most of the grievers had gone home already, but two friends stayed behind along with their teacher. Chiaki Hayasaka and Isamu Nitta looked at the grave of their friend Naoki Kashima. Chiaki had red eyes from all the crying she did, while Isamu pulled his hat further over his eyes to hide his pain.

"A drunk driver, that's what they said it was," Isamu said bitterly. "What they didn't say was the driver got caught with some prescribed drugs in his car as well not in his name. That bastard wasn't just drunk but high as well!"

*Sniff* "At least he'll be going to jail for a long time. But it's just not fair!" Chiaki lamented.

"Yeah, life ain't fair that much is certain," a man's voice said behind them. "Sorry if I startled or disturbed you, but I felt like I needed to pay my respects."

"It's fine, but who are you?" Chiaki asked.

"The name's Jyoji Hijiri. I'm a journalist by trade," the man answered.

"So what's so interesting about a dead teen and a car accident?" Isamu asked with some hostility.

The older woman put her hand on his shoulder, calming him down a bit. She looked at the man, "Sorry about that. We've all been hit rather hard by this whole experience. My name is Yuko Takao, I'm their teacher."

"It's not the worst thing I've had to deal with. Once you say you're part of the press in any form people tend to be less than friendly. And my condolences on your lost student Takao-san," Jyoji said.

Isamu sighed before nodding to the journalist. The four people turned back to the grave marker in silence. Yuko turned her head to the shadow of a tree to see a young man hiding there looking at the scene with a sense of sadness. She gave a sad smile toward him and received a nod before he disappeared.

 _"Good luck to whatever roads you walk Naoki. Thank you for saving our world. Farwell."_

* * *

Alleyway

The young man sighed as he pulled his hood down. He was rather dull as a person. A normal teen with dark hair and not a lot of muscle. The only thing that stood out were his golden demonic eyes.

Months after the Conception took place. Months after endless fighting with the demons of the Vortex World. Months after he saw the world end and for him to restore it to how it was previously was, free of otherworldly influence or people's distorted visions for the world. After all he'd been through and done all he wanted was for things to return to how they were. Hanging out with his friends Chiaki and Isamu between classes, or learning from their teacher Takao-sensei.

But it was too much to hope for.

One does not return from the end of the world unchanged. A person can't undo the death that they caused by their bare hands. Who would be unaffected by the idea that had killed gods with unimaginable powers darker than any night? Can someone sleep well at night knowing that they had been forced to kill their friends?

No. There was no going back no matter how much he wanted it. The Magatama placed within him was evidence enough for that. As much as he had denied it, he wasn't human anymore. No human could make demons kneel before him or challenge beings like the four horsemen. A human couldn't challenge the Great Will and restore a dead world to what it was before.

The months of nightmares and the steady change to his own body only hammered home the truth to him. Naoki the human died within the Vortex World and from that came Naoki the Demi-Fiend. A demon with a human heart. Not constricted to the vices of demonhood yet not completely immune to them. Mortal enough to see the world through a human lens and want to seek the better tomorrow, but backed by monstrous strength and powers.

"This is for the best," he tried to convince himself.

"Well you've still got us boss," a cheerful voice said to him.

The feeling of something on his shoulder was enough proof to confirm who spoke. He turned his head slightly to see his oldest companion, Pixie, smiling at him. She was a small creature with insect wings and wore a blue leotard with stockings and gloves. She had been by his side since he first found her in the hospital he'd arrived. She'd evolved into a High Pixie and continued to be his companion. And within the Labyrinth of Amala she rose to a level unheard of for her kind, even if she reverted to being a seemingly normal pixie. Any poor thoughts on her form were cast away when she used megadolion for the first time within the confusing and dangerous maze.

Her smile broke his depression. He returned the gesture and pat her diminutive head, careful not to hurt her. She may be the strongest of her species and clan, but he was still far stronger. She pouted and swat his hand away before leaping off his shoulder to flutter closely to him.

"You know I hate it when you do that," she said with her cheeks puffed in irritation.

"Sorry."

She waved it off. "It's fine. So, you got everything you need boss? We really doing this?"

"Taking over the Vortex World? Yes," He said with determination.

When he learned of his lacking humanity, he realized that his mere presence would be a danger to the reestablished world he fought to bring back. He discreetly summoned his most trusted and powerful demons to his side to discuss the situation. There had been some debating, but they had all agreed that he could no longer reside with his fellow men without risk of corrupting those around him due to overexposure of demonic energies that pulsed in his body. He could contain them for a long time but the energies would eventually leak out. When Pixie recommended returning to the Vortex World he became confused.

Surely it was gone. The world had been restored so there would be no ruined world, yet all the demons with him claimed otherwise. It was still there, more reduced and missing some sites, but remained all the same. Some power kept the remains of the destruction intact and demons still wandered the place in their quest for Magastuhi. The Vortex World could provide a haven for himself and his demons, but it would have to be conquered first and bring some degree of order to the many clans of demons. With the end of the Conception and the deaths of so many high-ranking beings there was now a sense of pandemonium as they all struggled to hold onto what little Magastuhi was left. But he had a plan for that.

Pixie gave a forlorn look to a group of trees outside the alley. "It's a bit of a shame really. Outside Yoyogi Park, there aren't any trees in the Vortex World."

"Like I said I have a few ideas. Don't worry, my Vortex World will have trees for you," the Demi-fiend said as he took off his hoodie and put it away.

Pixie smiled at this. She turned away from him to hide her rather human like blush. "G-geeze boss! Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep."

He chuckled at her reaction. All his demons, save for the most powerful, seemed to have become slightly more human. It was a more welcome change since he theorized he would be ruling the Vortex World for many years if not indefinitely. He easily lifted the crate of his various things to his shoulders. "Hey, think you can get the bag?"

Pixie huffed as she picked it up with no worries.

"Thanks. Now let's meet up with the others," Naoki said.

He raises his left hand before him and pulses his demonic power. A black energy with a red border surrounds the hand, but so too does the point in front of the duo. The point grows into a swirling mass of terrible energy and whispers of power and pain sound in the enclosed space. The power stirs a response in Naoki's own body and black markings with blue outline appear on his body, while a black horn juts from the back of his neck. Without looking back, the two demons disappear from the world forever.

* * *

?

Despite the convenience of teleporting, there were factors that could affect the destination while going from point A to point B. For demonic teleporting, it could be affected if the interference was being done by an extremely powerful being. And the being before the travelers was deceptively powerful.

While they stood, or in Pixie's case floated, on the platform in the middle of some sort of gathering, the curtain rose on the stage before them. The curtain revealed a study of some kind with two "people" as the only occupants. A young woman who wore an outfit befitting of a grieving widow, yet held dignity only found in those who were proud to serve their hosts. The man in the wheelchair she pushed wore a suite and held a cane he fiddled with in one hand. Yet his eyes held power that dwarfed even the Demi-fiend's own strength.

Pixie slowly edged to hide behind her own master as he and the man stared one another down. Tension was thick in the air. Naoki was somewhat indifferent to the whole situation, if the man wanted him dead they would be. But that wouldn't mean he'd go quietly.

"It has been some time since my master and I saw you, Demi-fiend," the woman spoke. "The last time it was after the fourth floor in the labyrinth. You were nearly done with the deepest section of the Labyrinth of Amala, yet you did not go through the final door to meet with us before your final battle. While some may see this as an insult, your actions and rebelling against the Great Will have pleased my master greatly."

She paused for a moment as some tension abated. "And now we see you again after your victory to find you coming to the remains of the Vortex World. Why?"

Naoki thought about his answer. "…As you can probably tell, I am no longer as human as I thought I would be after the rebirth of the world. My very presence would be a danger to my friends and those around me, so I returned to the only option open to me."

The man and the woman did not show it, but they were interested in what he saw was his only option.

"I packed what belongings I had or deemed that I needed, faked my death, and now set forth to take over the Vortex World as my own!" explained the Demi-fiend.

Silence permeated the room. Then a deep but quiet chuckle escaped the throat of the old man. The woman looked to her master with some shock before a smile crossed her face.

"It seems that you never cease in your entertaining of the master. To forsake your own connections to that world for their sake, shows a vision that sees a much larger picture than a normal man. Still, if you are to take the Vortex as your own, how are your subjects to survive with so little Magastuhi available?"

"I did say that I brought what I believed were needed for my success," he began. "And you have mentioned the multiverse to me as well. That had me thinking that with the right equipment and research, my demons and I could find the frequency of Magastuhi and draw it from multiple worlds within the multiverse into the Vortex World. Making a near endless supply of Magastuhi available to us."

The old man taps his cane against his foot as his mind processes the full implications of this plan. After analyzing what the Demi-fiend had planned he gave a shallow nod.

The woman addressed the pair once more. "The master is intrigued by your proposal. If you can follow through on your promise, what you say may come to pass. My master offers you luck on your conquest."

And like that a portal opened beneath them, taking them to their original destination. The duo managed to catch themselves before slamming into ground, saving the belongings they had. A slow clap caught their attention as they saw the rest of their allies. The clapping man wore a red outfit, carrying two pistols and a large sword on his back. This was Dante, the son of the demon knight Sparda and professional demon hunter.

"So, you kiddies decided to go for the stylish entrance?" he inquired in a laid-back tone. "Well, whether it was intentional or not, I can appreciate a little showing off now and then."

"Regardless of our companion's quips, it is good to see you Demi-fiend," spoke a more serious looking man in a striped robe. This was Futomimi, leader of the Manikins. Naoki had promised him that he and his fellow Manikins would have a place to call their own, especially after the majority were slaughtered by the corrupted Chiaki and her forces. They earned that much.

Behind the two humanoids were beings that were more…unique in their forms. Nine were relatively human shaped, but had skulls for heads. They were Naoki's fellow brethren of the fiend clan which ranged from the exuberant Matador to the more duty driven four Riders. And near them were the leaders of the Demi-fiend's light and dark factions, the fly lord Beelzebub and the voice of God Metatron. All looking to him and Pixie for their plan of attack.

"We'll need to take and restore Asakusa. Having the Manikins on our side is going to affect everything in the long-term. That I have a promise to keep," the Demi-fiend receives a grateful nod from the Manikin leader. "Shibuya would also be a good spot to secure. It was a neutral zone and until the fighting is done it will have to be a refugee center. Ginza I would like to be taken through diplomacy with Nix, she pretty much owns the area and the demons at her beck and call can help us. Securing Kabukchio gives us a place for prisoners and getting the serpent clan on our side since most of them stay there. Ikebukuro and Chiyoda will be difficult given the strength of the previous leaders having such an impact there. Other places within the Vortex World will be easy to take with our strength alone. But our most difficult fight is going to be taking and securing the Tower of Kagutsuchi, especially if that is to be our capital."

 **"If something is worth doing, it is hardly ever easy,"** Metatron noted.

 **"And if it is, it's usually a trap,"** Beelzebub added. **"This shall be an interesting campaign my Master."**

"No worries boss," Pixie chimed. "We're ready whenever you are!"

The Demi-fiend's eyes glowed a baleful yellow as he looked at their war map.

* * *

*Timeskip*

Twelve years had passed since the conquest of the relatively weakened Vortex World. With the lack of Magatsuhi, many demons barely put up a fight before being slain or surrendering. The six-month-long fighting was surprisingly quick, given the objectives Naoki put forth before they set out. The Magatsuhi Beacon Naoki constructed, with the aid of willing demons and Manikins, helped convince others to take his side.

After clearing out Asakusa of any non-friendly demons, Futomimi set forth to gather the lingering numbers of his people and bring them to their city. The process of restoring their home was slow given their few numbers, and without a steady supply of Magatsuhi to form new Manikins the place would be very sparse indeed. The process was taking too long for them to stay in Asakusa forever, so Naoki pushed the development of the beacon. However, the project site was moved to the safer area of Shinjuku to ensure that, if it was successful, the Manikins would not become a target.

The principle of the device was that it would tap into the multiverse and draw in Magatsuhi from humans or sentient beings of many different worlds/realities. Because of the numerous sources, the machine would draw Magatsuhi from minimal targets, in other words dead/killed humans. There was no difference in the quality of Magatsuhi thankfully and this had the benefit, at least to Naoki, of no humans in these worlds dispersing into the energy his demons were gathering, keeping the phenomena secret. Oddly enough, the device had created weather in the Vortex World with storms that rained Magatsuhi and prompted the spread and growth of vegetation, but only near major areas all others were still barren. New lakes and seas formed in places that were low enough, though they had managed to keep Asakusa safe.

With the knowledge that the Magatsuhi Beacon worked and was bringing in Magatsuhi back to the Vortex World, his forces could focus on their campaign. Some places gave up with little to no fight when he told them he had access to a stable supply of Magatsuhi available. Shibuya, Kabukchio, and Ginza all willingly submitted to him and pledged themselves to his rule. Ikebukuro was initially tough, but after strategically taking out the more prominent forces in spectacular fashion, they pledged themselves to him by differing to his much greater strength. Chiyoda had to be nearly cleared entirely in order to be taken as the demons were too fanatical to the previous Reason, same with the Tower of Kagutsuchi. He was forced to spend a lot of Macca to bring back some of his subordinates.

However, once the fighting was done, the Demi-fiend set to work establishing his new kingdom. As rewards for their help in the development of the Magatsuhi Beacon and their logistical support throughout the fighting, the Manikins maintained Asakusa and the area around it all under the watchful eyes of Futomimi. Metatron earned his lightside clans the area of Ikebukuro so they could display their divine might more openly. Beelzebub and his more darker clans were rewarded with Chiyoda, something about the old Diet building called to the fly lord's corruptive nature.

Manikins and some more nature tied demons, mainly from the fairy clan, had taken up the task of cultivating the new plants to develop a kind of ecosystem. They didn't quite understand it the way Naoki did, since he took biology classes, but they understood that meant opportunity. When they had gained some semblance of skill in gardening, Naoki introduced them to possible crops they could grow. The Magatsuhi had an interesting reaction to the plants, the seemed to grow faster and healthier than they normally would on any version of Earth. However, the Magatsuhi used had to be monitored and not saturate the plant, lest it become a demon itself. The fruits and vegetables were rich in flavor and could restore health or magic depending on the type of produce. To supplement the new diet, Naoki would take trips to random Earths and steal away farm animals so there could be a supply of meat. Yoma and Jirea clans helped in that regard.

The Demi-fiend's excursions to these Earths proved to be a boon in case there was something needed and the demons of the Vortex World could not produce it. Often it was to take books and Shinjuku became the place they would be. The Vortex World's great library.

Naoki had commanded his other fiends to patrol the Vortex World and maintain some degree of order in his name. Demons would be demons after all, but he would at least manage it. His friend Dante would be in charge of hunting down the especially dangerous ones. It was pretty much his old gig but now with a more steady pay. But always by his side was Pixie. Not once would she leave him alone for too long, save for checking in on her less powerful kin or reading by herself. Her loyalty and companionship made her the most important demons to Naoki and he would not hesitate to grant a request if she asked for one.

Still, it did not mean he wouldn't be confused about what she asked for at the moment.

"You want to be able to become human? Why?" he asked.

Pixie looked down, her wings beating slightly slower. "W-well, everyone around you is at least human sized and I'm left to be your pint-sized demon. I feel left out in a way. Even if the form is temporary, it would be nice not to hover to look you in the eyes. And…" she blushed, "we could have more opportunities."

*Sigh* "You've been reading _those_ books again haven't you?" he said in a deadpan.

"Guilty!" she grinned at him.

He pinched his brow. "Alright, I'll look into it tonight, okay?"

She smiled warmly, "Thanks Naoki."

The two had been by each other's side for so long, they had become the source of gossip among some clans of demons. After all the saying of 'behind every powerful man, is an equally powerful woman' was more than a saying if that woman could throw around megadolions. But Pixie had a hard time trying to be something more than the Demi-fiend's Pixie. She was born a demon and needed to have more human understanding. And there was also a size issue. If they wanted to become physical at some point in time, she needed to be a normal sized human to do so.

 _"Heck Beelzebub has a human form for crying out loud, I deserve one too damn it,"_ Pixie thought angrily, while keeping her smile.

Later that night Naoki bid Pixie farewell, someone had to run things while he was away, as he took a step into the portal he opened. He came out into a deserted town somewhere in Northern Japan. His many travels required being inconspicuous, so he was once more lacking his demonic markings, aura, and horn with only a hoodie to guard him from the night breeze. Not the cold could bother him much anymore.

The place he ended up seemed to be a neighborhood over grown by plants and had some erosion. Signs in his birth language were rusted and bent with vines hanging from them. Sounds of wild dogs echoed in the still night. The lack of power did give him a pleasant view of the night sky.

"So, this world is ruined huh? Too bad. *Sigh* It's always depressing coming to fallen Earths," the Demi-fiend lamented.

Still, the door had been opened and he would find some humans for Pixie. He didn't know what he'd do once he found some, but ideas were kicking around in his head. He was about to set off when he heard a sound coming from near the former train station. Following the sound, he tried to think of what it could be. It didn't sound like a normal train, in fact it sounded like a faint hum of energy. Whatever it was, was passing through the town soon, so Naoki decided to wait and observe.

His patience was rewarded with more questions as a black train with many cargo cars passed swiftly by. The design was made for intimidation and aerodynamic speed. The red lights gave warning and light for the journey. But what caught his attention were the many green pods the cargo cars carried as they gave off the feeling of Magatsuhi. Having gained his attention, the Demi-fiend followed the tracks to the destination.

Two hours of running were nothing to the fiend as the train slowed into the strange facility. Just as the black train, the complex was extremely futuristic. Windows of red energy, turrets on the buildings, and guards patrolled the streets. Stranger still were the non-humans that patrolled with the solders. He saw what looked like oni in green armor, more animalistic naga, and what looked like legless archangels, all of whom carried energy weapons of some sort. And yet none of them gave off demonic aura, instead it felt off. Engineered in a way and fake with a dash of 'not of this world'.

"Huh. Aliens," he said unimpressed. Their power was weak and far below any threat to most demons of the Vortex World.

Satisfied in his scouting and having gaged them of their threat level, Naoki decided to try and perform first contact with an out of the way patrol. The patrol had two grunts, one carrying an electric blade, and another in red armor with a cape. Seeing them by themselves offered him the chance as he stepped out from behind a tree.

"Pardon me but-"

His diplomacy was cut off when the one in red pointed to him and shouted in some obscure tongue while readying his weapon.

"I mean you no harm," Naoki tried to deescalate the situation.

Yet they would not listen and fired upon him without mercy. Unfortunately for them, they only singed his jacket. They seemed to stop in confusion, unable to ascertain why he was still standing.

"Hey! This is my favorite!" he shouted.

The one with the blade ran up to him and stabbed him with the electric blade, yet his skin was unmarred. A sense of dread fell over them as his yellow eyes gained an irritated glint.

"Okay I tried to be nice," he said casually before grabbing the offender by his neck and throwing him into a nearby rock, hard.

The other two were surprised by the sudden and brutal demise of their member. What was a trooper, was now a meaty stain on the landscape. They opened fire while trying to back away. The Demi-fiend wasn't in the mood. He took a deep breath and expelled fire from his mouth, catching the other trooper. The pained warped cries from the man were strange music to the Demi-fiend's ears, as he smiled. Hey, he was a demon after all. He turned his gaze to the last man in the patrol, who was giving a desperate/panicked report as he closed the distance.

Naoki slapped the weapon from his hand and pinned him to a tree, dangling by his throat. He ripped the helmet from the leader and found the man was actually some kind of creature. While he had the general appearance of a human, from the mouth up was an elongated head and large eyes of the, thing in his grasp. He relished the pure fear emanating from it before crushing its neck with a smile. Dropping the corpse, he noticed a kind of data pad attached to its hip. He took it and began to do a little info digging before whatever backup would arrive.

He casually scrolled through it, but found the language difficult to read even to his demonic mind. Demons came from all sources of mankind's mythos; thus, all demons knew all human languages. This confirmed his stance on aliens, so he would have to go by what he could piece together. His investigation was interrupted twice by backup but he swept them aside with area of effect spells without looking away from the pad.

It seemed that a race called the Elders came to Earth and conquered it after a long bloody campaign, and took to ruling the planet to use its resources and inhabitants. They seemed to have some kind of agenda called the Avatar Project, which required sites like the one he was near for research purposes. It also seemed that the force that first denied the aliens was making a comeback as a guerrilla fighting force. This XCOM seemed to want nothing less than the full liberation of Earth from the Elders' and other aliens' hands. They had been rather successful over the past month harassing the aliens of ADVENT and gaining intel about the project.

However, none of this was his problem. The Demi-fiend ruler of the Vortex World, Bane of the Great Will, had no obligation to this Earth nor its people. He only came for Pixie's request and yet stumbled upon this whole mess. He truly admired these XCOM people, he really did. They were fighting for the path of freedom as he once did. Yet to him these foes were terribly weak. Only the lowest level demons of the Vortex would be threatened by them, and yet they must pose a terrible danger to the average human. If XCOM had demons like him they…

Then came an idea. An awful idea. Naoki grew a savage, bloodthirsty grin upon his face as he acknowledged the curious thought. He practically felt the amusement of the old man and the woman in black from wherever he was sure they were watching.

"Well," he started as his demonic aura rose and his markings appeared, "it has been rather dull back home. My subjects have needed some form of entertainment, and boy do I have an idea. Pixie you magnificent woman, you've just given the Vortex the best source of entertainment since we took over."

His vicious grin stood out as clearly as his markings and eyes did in the gloom. It would be the last terrifying thing any of the ADVENT forces there would see.


	2. Black Site Amala

**Hello and welcome back everyone. Thank you to those who followed and fav'ed already and I hope that this next chapter is even more entertaining. As I mentioned in the first chapter, I starting writing this back before War of the Chosen came out and had to make amendments, so some** **dialog** **may be a bit off. I've tried to fix this but there is always the chance that something might've slipped through so I apologize if I missed any. We're meeting the first squad that'll be dealing with the craziness and one of the next squad. If you want information about the squad, their descriptions and what not are at the end of the chapter. Without further ado, please enjoy and don't forget to review, follow, and favorite.**

 **I own nothing except for my OCs.**

"talking"

 _"thoughts"_

 **"powerful"**

* * *

Chapter 2: Black Site Amala

Four months since his liberation from the ADVENT facility had shown the commander of XCOM just how much the world had changed. Their headquarters was a ruin. The old council was dead or converted to the ADVENT's party save for the mysterious Councilman. Nations ceased to be and just became territory to the aliens. And people were just another form of resource for the damn Elders and their plan, whatever the Avatar Project's goal was.

 _"What a time to be alive,"_ he thought to himself. _"If we could've seen where we are now, would we have given more to the cause? Shen and Vahllen, would your choices be different?"_

His depression was well understood. With the loss of headquarters, everyone scattered to the winds. The once young, duty driven, and somewhat optimistic Bradford had aged in his prolonged fighting to become a stern hardened veteran he would've loved to have out in the field back in the day. Shen died of old age, but not before planning one last hope for his daughter Lily Shen, their new Chief Engineer. Vahllen went off the deep-end when she started unethical genetic experiments on the many alien species, and they had to clean it up. They still hadn't found her, but Tygan's skills as a scientist could not be overlooked nor dismissed in this fight.

And it was those three individuals that were all with him in the lab.

"Alright Tygan, what's this all about?" Bradford asked in his new, to him at least, gruff voice.

Tygan straightened himself out for his presentation. "Central, Commander. We felt we needed to inform you about what we have recently uncovered with the latest cache of intel." He gestured to the screen behind him. "Shen has managed to hack into extremely restrictive archives of ADVENT files from that last operation. The data tells us some…interesting but also troubling news. Shen."

The Asian-American engineer took over. "From the files we've managed to hack, we've come across a new Black Site in Eastern Asia. Japan specifically."

"Well that's a boon to us," Central said. "Usually we've got to make contact with Resistance forces before we get the location. Damn good work you two."

The scientist and engineer looked at one another.

"There's a bit more going on Central," Shen said as she zoomed the satellite image over the supposed site's location. "According to the data, ADVENT have been sending entire regiments of troopers and aliens to the site, but none have returned. This has been going on for months now, almost a year, and they still haven't been able to reclaim the Black Site."

"So, the aliens lost control of the site?" the Commander spoke.

Tygan took over again. "That was the only reason we can think of until we translated a few of the orders the Elders gave their men. One of the most unusual appear in conjuncture with the orders to retake the site, was to deal with all traitors."

"So, more people are wising up to ADVENT's lies? That just means we're getting some headway with the civilian population," Bradford nodded to a job well done.

"I never said they were human traitors," Tygan added.

Bradford and the Commander both stopped at this before the latter spoke. "Wait the aliens are infighting?"

"It looks like it commander," Shen said as she paused her task. "Turns out a Muton clan, a Viper sisterhood, and a flight's worth of Archons just one day up and left their posts. When they were confronted by the troopers and other alien forces they immediately opened fire. So far only these groups left the Elders but still…"

"You sure they aren't like the Skirmishers?" Central got a look from the Commander, "I'll tell you later."

"Positive Bradford," Tygan responded.

"Well that's a good thing right? If the aliens are too busy putting down deserters, that gives us more time to do what we need to do," Central pointed out.

Tygan seemed a bit nervous. "Yes, but we need to look at the much larger picture here. From what we understand about the ADVENT network and the Elders themselves, it is _nearly_ impossible for any force to rebel against them on their own. Someone or some _thing_ more than likely broke their control and now has plans for these forces."

"And we can't be sure if they are really on our side or not," the Commander finished.

"Precisely."

"Shen how long is it going to take finding satellite images?" Bradford asked.

"I've been trying, but I'm unable to access the site itself. And for some reason whatever I pull up is just this."

The Chief Engineer pulled up the image, if one could call it that. Over the site was a black spot that had random red letters moving over the spot. Everyone was puzzled over the odd text block over the location.

"Impressive work on getting real-time footage, but maybe you should cut the transmission before we get located Shen," the Commander chided a bit.

"That's the strange part Commander. This is a still image taken a few hours ago. If I gave you an image of one a week ago, it would be the same thing. This phenomenon goes back all the way to the fall of the black site, and yet these letters are still moving," Shen said somewhat exacerbated.

Bradford scrutinized the characters more closely. "Am I seeing Latin, English-"

"Mandurian, Hindu, Sanskrit, Kanji, and even Egyptian hieroglyphics," Tygon cut in. "We have identified them and several other living and dead languages that pass across the spot."

"Do we have any idea what they say?"

"The same thing over and over again. Amala."

Lily spoke, "We've found nothing in our research that references Amala, but it seems to be a name of some sort. From this and the use of human languages, we've guessed that whatever is the source of the black site has some root in humanity and dislikes ADVENT."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," the Commander uttered as he thought about all this. He felt that this was something that could change the course of this war forever, and it all hinged on his decision. No one envied his choices. "This needs to be investigated. Central, tell everyone to set course to Japan. Get a squad prepped and ready to deploy. Tygan, continue your research and autopsies. Shen, make sure our equipment is repaired and functional for this op."

Bradford straightened out. "Understood Commander. Let's get to it."

As everyone left, the Commander swore that something was observing the whole discussion. It wasn't alien feeling, but something much older and darker. Suppressing the unnatural chill he felt, he followed his colleagues out.

* * *

Tower of Kagatsuchi

Naoki smiled as he cut off his connection to that Earth's reality. Everything had proven to be so much fun. Pissing off these ADVENT and their Elders had been easy, but the results were hilarious to him and his demons. The poor aliens had no way to comprehend what they were nor how they could hope to fight them. They just threw more troops for the grinder and his demons could gather fresh Magatsuhi to their hearts' content. And now XCOM had come into play.

"You seem to be in a good mood boss," a mature but playful voice said as a hand stroked his arm.

The Demi-fiend turned to see his favorite fairy clan member in her adult human form. With so many human females from that black site Pixie could pick out the ones that most closely fit with her ideal form she wanted, or she thought he would like. Through a ritual provided by the Cathedral of Shadows, she had gained the ability to assume a human form at last. Said form had few differences with her true form save for wider hips, fuller chest, and lack of wings. She fully took advantage of her new form that first night with her master.

"Of course, my dear. Our special guests have received their clues to us, and the game is afoot now," he said happily placing his hand on her cheek. "Do you remember your part Pixie?"

"Of course!" she said with glee.

The stage was set, all that was left was to wait for the actors.

* * *

Avenger Armory

The large room was a buzz with activity as the chosen squad prepped their equipment for the upcoming deployment. They were all blooded individuals from this prolonged war against the alien menace. Each had their own reasons for fighting.

They would say that they were more prepared than they were not too long ago when the Commander had to be rescued. Said Commander was still hung over about the loss of men from the first conflict and had the scientists focus more on defenses and armor before weapons. Their Kevlar armor was replaced by Predator armor, with Power amror on the way, and they were transitioning into Magnetic weapons with only their sniper rifles, pistols, and grenade launchers needing to be upgraded. Still each of the soldiers had their own preferred gear through experience, and Bradford knew they could get the job done.

Captain Jane 'Enforcer' Kelly would oversee the squad for the mission. She had been with the reinstated XCOM since the mission to rescue the Commander, which was her first mission, and continued to impress those around her with her kill count. She was stealthy too, one of if not the best ranger they had. ADVENT forces were greatly reduced by the ambushes she set up.

Lieutenant William 'Chosen' Wilson would be the resident psi-operative, their trump card for whatever was there. Will had been recommended and recruited by a go-between man and had been a promising soldier from England. He'd been in the medbay more than any other living soldier and gladly volunteered to be the first psi-op. Unfortunately for him, the experimental procedure turned his hair stark white, but that didn't stop him from being more formidable against the aliens.

Lieutenant Chun 'Fist' Kou would oversee heavy weapons and demolition. The Chinese man had a "thing" for all things explosive or fiery, the role suited him. His strength and skills in the martial arts earned him the nickname of Fist when he managed to flip a charging ADVENT stun trooper away from himself and his squad.

Sergeant Rahat 'Pharaoh' El-Hashem would be the sniper for this mission. Rahat and those of Arabic decent had faced minor discrimination before joining XCOM, but he pushed past their hate filled words. Racism was pointless in the face of these otherworldly invaders. His knowledge of desert environments had saved several squadmates during those ops, and his keen eyes helped to weaken or take out more difficult targets.

Sergeant Yuna 'Maiden' Takami would provide any medical or hacking support needed. She was the sole survivor of her team in a VIP rescue gone bad two months ago and it hit her hard. To cover or drive away her depression and survivor's guilt, she broke away from her traditional/conservative rearing in favor of living life to the fullest. She dyed her hair and armor bright pink and she became…promiscuous in attitude. This didn't affect her performance on missions however, as she personally made it her mission to make sure everyone got back in one piece.

And Sergeant David 'Fang' Jorgensen would supply close combat expertise for close encounters. From the moment he brained an ADVENT trooper in a riot before finding XCOM, he man felt his old Norse blood echo through him to utterly destroy these aliens. It wasn't helped by the fact that they had found a cache of experimental weapons from old XCOM that supported his Danish savagery. The bolt caster and hunter's axe were claimed by him the second he saw them. Though if the Commander asked for them, he would hand them over temporarily.

Each of them were strong in their own rights and Bradford handpicked them for this serious operation. They inspected their gear and chose their extra utilities. Kou and Jorgensen would wear E.X.O armor and El-Hashem would have a spider suite for more options and protection. They might have taken the new Spark that protected the Chief Engineer, but she wouldn't risk the only functioning machine. The one with the former AI Julian resided in needed another week for repairs, so this would be a solely human op.

"Hey Wilson, you got any ideas on this mission," Kou asked.

*Sigh* "How many times do I have to tell you, I can't read the future," Wilson said irritated at the question.

"Oh come on, don't be like that man," the Chinese man said, gripping the psi-op in a headlock. "You know that's our running gag."

"It's a right shit gag is what it is you git."

"Uptight Brit."

"Fireball chicken."

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

"GAH!" both men recoiled in disgust.

The Japanese specialist pouted. "Aww."

"Damn it Takami! Why do you have to ruin everything!" Kou complained.

"Seriously, you try to make everyone part of your little sex fantasy. It's more overused than Kou's jabs at my psychic powers."

"Yeah!...Wait?"

Jorgensen continued to sharpen his throwing axe as he turned to El-Hashem. "There they go again."

"Well it's better than your habit of practicing taxidermy on the alien corpses."

"You don't have to watch when I work you know."

"True but there is often little else to do between missions. And the internet is full of ADVENT propaganda."

*Hmph* "Gallows humor and all that keeps us as sane as we can be in this mad world."

The Egyptian sniper stiffed on reflex. "You better hurry up, she's here."

Three successive whacks later had the whole squad facing their leader for the op. Kelly's eyes narrowed at the three of their behavior. "We've got a mission to run, so quit flirting and meet me at the Skyranger in two minutes. If you're late, you get to tell the Commander. I hear he's particularly interested in this operation."

Kelly watched her team leave before grabbing her own gear. She walked past a woman with an eye patch waiting just outside. She had a cold feeling to her and an aura of a snarling bear.

"Don't you go dying out there Kelly," the woman said in a thick Russian accent.

"We won't Aleksandra. See ya after the op," Kelly responded, earning a huff from her comrade.

Aleksandra watched as her fellow squad leader walked off as she spoke to herself. "I mean it Jane. My gut tells me something bad is going to happen."

* * *

Kelly double-timed it to the Skyranger. The Commander was someone none of them wanted to disappoint, so the next two minutes were a whirlwind of panic and swears as they raced for the Skyranger. Once they had strapped in and calmed down, the aircraft took off for an hour and a half flight to the drop off. The mission screen flashed on but fizzled into a stream of red letters and symbols that spread across the screen.

"What the fuck?" was Kou's response to the oddity.

*Static* "Menace 1-5 the operation here is perhaps the strangest one yet, starting off with this screen," the Central Officer's face and voice popped up in a corner of the screen. "Yes, this is supposed to be the location of the site, but for some reason the word Amala is covering it in almost every human language from human history. For that reason, we're IDing this as Black Site Amala. Months ago this was your standard black site that was focused on achieving the completion of the Avatar Project. Then the site goes dark and ADVENT sends forces to reclaim the location thinking that either resistance forces hit it or us, but there's been no returning forces that they send."

"Damn. Whoever's there must have the place locked down tight," El-Hashem said.

"That's what we're thinking Pharaoh, especially considering that ADVENT continues to send forces to the black site with no returning forces. So either ADVENT doesn't care about its forces or whatever's there has been worth sending their troopers to their supposed ends. But it doesn't end there."

"What do you mean Central?" Takami asked.

"Apparently things aren't as hunky dory between ADVENT and aliens, seeing how some broke off completely from the Elders' control."

"WHAT!" was their reaction to news.

"You heard right Menace 1-5, there are rebel _alien_ forces somewhere in Black Site Amala. We don't know how or why, but we might have a theory on who."

"Vhallen's experiments," Jorgensen said.

"Correct Fang. Those things seemed to have minds of their own and could in theory bring some of their same species under their sway. However, they were still aliens brought by the Elders and they hold a mostly psychic dominance over the more powerful alien forces, which means that something just as, if not more powerful broke through that connection."

"What's our objective Central?" Kelly asked professionally.

"Your objectives are as follows: Go into Black Site Amala and find out what's going on there, establish contact with who or whatever currently controls the site, find out where the ADVENT expeditions are or what happened to them, find out the whereabouts of the rebelling alien forces, and locate and extract any humans in the AO. Maiden's gremlin and each of your visual cameras will be giving us all the visual information about the site. We have no idea what to expect there, so stay sharp."

"Understood Central. We'll get it done."

The next half-hour was tense for the entire squad. The news that Bradford reported shook them in an odd way. They knew this wouldn't be an ordinary mission, but with so little to go on they truly were in the dark. And how were they going to deal with whatever was there? ADVENT couldn't do it with their armies, how could they deal with something like this?

Kelly hid her anxiety behind a mask of calm duty, to her nothing else mattered other than her squad and the objectives Bradford put forth. Jorgensen and Kou kept their hands busy with sharpening an axe and playing with a lighter, respectively. Wilson started reciting a psalm from memory, Psalm 23 if she recalled. El-Hashem clutched at his ankh necklace, he was rather proud of his Egyptian heritage. And Takami pulled out a raunchy themed manga, but her mind wasn't into it.

Finally, they reached the destination and the hatch opened into the unknown. They ran toward the repelling ropes and slid down into a foggy forest. They drew their guns and waited tensely. There was not a sound to be heard. Not even insects or birds could be heard in the oppressive mist.

"Menace 1-5 you're clear to begin. Proceed with extreme caution," Central's voice came through their radios, making them jump.

*Sigh* "Alright people we do this by the numbers. Fang and I will be on point. Chosen and fist cover center. Pharaoh and Maiden watch our six. Let's move!" Kelly barked.

The two rangers moved farther ahead to keep everyone appraised of their environment, but from what they saw there would be little to report. The dense fog made scouting difficult but they found the train tracks. They moved in silence, their weapons ready for the first sign of danger. They soon found some destroyed train cars scattered about.

"Seems like whatever controls Amala took out the only fast exit out," Central noted.

"And yet the question remains. Where are the people the train was carrying?" Tygan asked.

"Don't know, but I'll check it out," Kelly said. "Alright people, hunker down while I check one of the cars. Fist you're with me. Watch the door."

"Got it Enforcer."

The captain slowly pried the door open and entered. Kou kept his mag cannon trained to the darkness Kelly entered. The light at the end of her shard gun was the only way she could make her way through the disheveled container. She casually looked at them, to see any trace of the people ADVENT pickled on the way to the black site, but she saw nothing. Placing her weapon down carefully, she tried to open one of them. Unfortunately it was stuck.

"Oh come on," she said in frustration. She put more strength into her task, until the latch broke and the lid flung off. For poor Kelly, the momentum caused her to smack into the wall with force. The vibrations jangled a precarious container from a stack. The scrapping of metal was the only warning Jane got as she dodge rolled out of the way.

*BOOM*

"Enforcer, are you alright?"

"Roger that Fist. But my exit's been blocked off by debris. Squad, meet up with Fist and help clear it so I can get out of here. And no Fist, no explosions."

"Aww. Your no fun captain."

Kelly smirked a bit. These guys may have been rough around the edges, but they were good people. Their antics and quirks made things enjoyable in their bleak conflict. With nothing else to do but wait for her team to get her out, she sat down and waited, her back leaning against the side of the car.

"Hi ya!"

Jane reacted on instinct and nerves as she brought her shard gun to…

"Huh?"

It was a kid. A little girl with short red hair and a blue outfit with stockings and gloves. She looked no older than eight years. Kelly breathed out a breath that was full of nerves and lowered the gun.

 _"What's a kid doing here?"_ She thought to herself. "Sorry about that kid. You kinda gave me a scare."

"Oh? Sorry," the girl said with a grin. "So what'cha doing?"

Deciding to humor the kid, Kelly responded, "Well there are strange things in this area and my friends and I heard there were some bad men here. We thought we should find out why the bad men are here in the first place and see if we could help out people."

"Are you talking about the aliens and ADVENT?" The girl's statement dropped some of the friendliness from Jane's face. "You're a bit late for that, they're already dead. Or at least most of them."

The cheerfulness of the girl's voice at the mention of death made the captain tense. "What do you mean? Do you know what happened here?"

The child smiled. "They went into the Shrine of Amala silly. You'll be going there too."

Kelly was about to ask another question when the scrapping of metal grabbed her attention. Grunts of effort and swears told her that her team were the culprits. Wilson's face poked through the opening they made.

"Captain, are you alright? Maiden get over here," he ordered.

The pink haired Japanese woman brushed passed the psi-op and started doing first aid, before the patient swatted her care away.

"I'm fine everyone, thanks. Now back to-huh!?" she turned to speak to the girl, but she was nowhere to be found. "Where'd she go?"

"…Where'd who go Enforcer?" Yumi asked.

"There was a little girl right here. She had red hair and a blue outfit. In fact, Central, can you confirm my conversation with the kid."

"…Enforcer our equipment seemed to be jammed near you after you gave the order to get you out of there. We thought the aliens were responsible so we had the team double time it. Still things seem to be in the clear again," Bradford reported, confused himself.

"But she was here I swear it," Jane was starting to get a little unnerved.

"Captain," El-Hashem spoke up, "perhaps we should continue with the mission."

Kelly nodded. "You're right Pharaoh. Alright people, we keep moving. Be advised that the girl I mentioned may be an alien trick or part of the phenomena here, watch out."

The team left the train car in silence as they continued their way to the objective. They then came upon some remains of a camp that was probably an ADVENT camp. The whole place seemed to have been raided and ransacked, with no weapons or armor found and sheets of metal were torn from the vehicles. Signs of struggle were present in the laser burns on rocks and the ground, and footprints of many creatures. Dried blood splotches could be seen, but what wasn't were bodies.

Jane heard a giggling as she caught sight of the child again, only for her to disappear behind a tree. She didn't bother with the strange redhead and continued to lead on. Then Kou spoke quietly to Will.

"Hey Chosen."

"What?"

"I know you're psychic, but have you been able to pick anything up?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…when we were back there, did anything feel off?"

"I don't-"

"Look, something shook up the captain right? We haven't seen a damn thing except for wreckage from that ADVENT camp and the train. And this damn fog won't let up!"

"This is eerily similar to how some horror movies start," Yuna admitted.

"…Wait, are you trying to ask if I'm seeing dead people you tit!?"

"Cut the chatter," Enforcer shushed them. _"Still, was that kid a ghost?"_

"You are doing well Menace 1-5. Keep going, you'll be reaching the objective marker soon," The Commander voiced, his confidence in them helped settle things down a little.

They had made it to the designated boundaries of the black site and found it similar to the camp, stripped for parts and materials. Only minor evidence of buildings were left behind to offer some cover to the team.

"Whoa!" Shen shouted through their mics, making them jump again. "I'm picking up huge energy readings! They're unlike anything I've ever seen! Tygan I'm sending you the data."

"My God! These can't be right!"

"Talk to me Tygan. What can't be right?" Central asked.

"I have studied many things during my time with ADVENT, energy was one of them. Elerium may produce massive amounts of energy compared to pre-war methods, but whatever _this_ is humbles elerium based power."

"So the aliens found some new source of energy, but it seemed to have backlashed in some way? Seems the picture's starting to clear up a bit."

"I wouldn't be so sure Central," the Commander cut in. "If that's the case, then why are the buildings stripped of materials and where are the bodies?"

"Commander it seems ADVENT sent more forces into the area. Team, I recommend you stay low until their done deploying," Shen reported.

The zooming sounds of ADVENT's dropships sounded overhead. Many by the sound of them. The squad maintained camouflage as they slowly made their way to the ADVENT deployment zone. They followed the direction the crafts took, but it was difficult to maintain properly in the persisting fog. Only the sounds of the engines and shouts in the alien tongue could guide them through the cloudy soup.

Jane's squad hid in the hollow scaffolding of the main building of the former black site to observe. ADVENT troopers and mechs could be seen moving about preparing for conflict. Some vipers and mutons would be the assault group and two archons would be the elite of the deployment. Sectoids skittered about as the forces embarked on their mission, but seemed more nervous about being there. The team also got a glimpse of the "source" of the phenomena.

It was a large structure with bazar geometry that stretched into the sky. Glowing lines and human languages stylized the walls and flowed into the building's depths, the same color red as the covering from satellite images. Obelisks stood before the entrance and pulsed more brightly with the same red energy that flowed through the structure. Some wreckage from previous incursions' mechs were at the entrance in pieces. The darkness of the doorway held a level of malevolence that chilled the humans in hiding. Some primal parts of their minds were reeling and screaming at them to run or be consumed by that darkness.

"Uh Central? I think we found the source," Jane radioed in.

"Holy shit," El-Hashem said in wonder.

"We see it Menace 1-5. Still having a hard time processing it," Bradford replied, a little lost himself.

"The energy from earlier seems to be centered on this structure. It's acting as a beacon of some sort," Tygan said.

"Yea, but a beacon for what?" the Commander asked. "Menace 1-5 hold position and wait for the ADVENT to fully commit to entering the structure before engaging. There are far too many for you all to take on."

"Understood Commander, we'll hunker down," Kelly responded.

The team spaced out and retained line of sight on the ADVENT. Then the first few went into the building followed by another group ten minutes later and so on. The remaining ADVENT and alien forces left behind were still a considerable number, but nothing they hadn't seen before.

"Alright looks like we're going to have to settle for clearing them out first. Pharaoh will set off the ambush," Kelly ordered and they moved to positions, guns ready. "On my mark-M-"

"Wait! There's someone coming out!" David said.

Out of the darkened entrance stumbled a heavily bleeding ADVENT commander. His gun lost in the building, holding his arm in pain. Other troopers moved to aid him but he ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the closest dropship. The commander's panicked words displayed a sense of terror that the squad could, without saying, empathize with. The doorway itself was unnerving, what else was lurking in there.

They got their answer when a roar sounded from the entry and some creature flew out. It seemed to look like a giant flying stingray, but had the face of something more mammalian and wore a crown of all things. Suddenly the dropships were frozen solid, as were the men around them. ADVENT troopers and aliens began opening fire, but the creature dodged or didn't care for the few hits it received. Then more swaths of ice froze the ADVENT and aliens alike. Some of the remaining ships tried to flee but were blasted out of the sky by ice, while some troopers tried to call in support only for their radios not to work. The flying ray flew around in a lethargic way but sped after the injured commander. Said commander hobbled away from the chaos but turned in time to be snatched up by the jaws of the creature. The crunching of bones could be heard even as it flew back into the building.

"…Am I high right now?"

"No Fist. No you are not," David said in a subdued tone.

"Then what the Fuck was that!?" he whisper yelled.

Kelly ignored the banter. "Central, please tell me you all saw that."

"We saw it, but honestly can't believe what we just saw," Bradford said just as lost.

Panicked sounds could be heard over the team's radio as Shen spoke up. "That creature has the same energy readings as the building. Whatever it is could be the key to finding out what's going on here. Hey! Calm down back there!"

"I am more interested in the ray's ability to 'conjure' ice," Dr. Tygan said. "If you are forced to confront it, try to keep the specimen intact."

"In the meantime, Enforcer set up an ambush and clear out the survivors before they regroup," the Commander ordered.

"Yes sir!"

Kelly put a plan in place as the alien forces ran in a panic. She and Jorgensen would overwatch near some ruble and a destroyed dropship, El-Hashem used his spider suit to get to a higher position to overwatch, Wilson and Takami would do the same from some full cover via a wall, and Kou would set off the ambush with a grenade. While they were setting up, more forces chased the creature into the building and left three injured troopers, two mutons, a commander, and a shieldbearer to put the camp back together.

"Go for it Fist," Jane said.

"Burn motherfuckers!" he yelled as his incendiary grenade launched among the two mutons and the shieldbearer.

The effect was immediate as the device detonated in a fiery explosion. The armor was shredded and one muton burned to death. The others jumped to action and run to cover, but the trap was sprung. The psy-op and specialist gunned down two troopers as they rushed in a limp. Pharaoh scored a headshot on the commander and dropped him. David and Jane finished off the surviving muton and shieldbearer, respectively. The last ADVENT trooper tried to fire at the resident sniper, but missed and Rahat returned fire with his pistol to end him. The ambush was perfectly executed.

"Good job everyone," Kelly complimented.

"Nice shooting Tex," Will said to El-Hashem, making a cowboy pose.

"Let's get after those ADVENT and-"

"Uh Enforcer, you may want to see this," Maiden said with trepidation.

The squad looked to see that the bodies of the ADVENT and aliens seemed to be dissolving into strands of red glowing energy that shot toward the structure and was absorbed.

"…what?"

"Menace 1-5, whatever the hell happened to the bodies seems to have converted them into the same energy as the building. What the hell is going on here!?" Central seemed to be going up a wall with the whole mystery.

"The energy from the building seems to have turned the dead organic material into more of the same energy. I have no doubt that they could be as potent as our instruments claim them to be," Tygan observed.

"If we can figure out the process to do even a little of that, we can turn ADVENT corpses into a limitless source of power," Shen hypothesized.

"That skews dangerously close to what ADVENT is doing to us Shen and I won't have us become the enemy," the Commander said in finality. "Menace 1-5, you are clear to enter the structure, but proceed with caution. Weapons free."

"You heard the boss. Let's go," Yuna said, her gremlin floating behind her.

The squad moved in a tight formation, the muzzles of their weapons searching for targets. Each member felt a chill as they crossed the threshold into the structure to see the main area. It seemed to be a large chamber with stairs that led to East and West wings of the place. But the staircase was spit by some small room built into the case with a stone door covering it. The red lights seemed to pulse toward or from the door's center, but the squad were most concerned with the lack of any cover from the entrance to the stairs. The team made it to the center of the room when they heard a dark and powerful voice.

 **"Welcome to the Shrine of Amala."**

The grinding of stone caused them to stare at the entrance as a massive stone door slammed down, locking them inside the temple.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Here's the squad's info:**

A-Team

*Capt. Jane 'Enforcer' Kelly-ranger

Appearance: American, white, brown hair, green ballcap, dark green armor

Abilities: slash, phantom, shadow strike, conceal, bladestorm

Equipment: stasis vest, mimic beacon

*Liet. Will 'Chosen' Wilson-psi op.

Appearance: British, white, white hair, military cut, dark blue armor

Abilities: soulfire, inspire, soul steal, solace

Equipment: flash bang, mindshield

*Liet. Chun 'Fist' Kou-grenadier

Appearance: Chinese, Asian, shaved head, red armor

Abilities: launch grenade, blast padding, suppression, holo targeting

Equipment: incinderary grenade, e.x.o. armor, flamethrower

*Serg. Rahat 'Pharaoh' El-Hashem-sharpshooter

Appearance: Egyptian, middle-eastern, black hair, camo hood tan armor

Ablilities: squad sight, return fire, deadeye

Equipment: battle scanner, spider suit, tracer rounds

*Serg. Yuna 'Maiden' Takami-specialist

Appearance: Japanese, Asian, pink hair, pink armor

Abilities: aid protocol, medical protocol, revival protocol

Equipment: nanomedkit, gas grenade

*Serg. David 'Fang' Jorgensen-ranger

Appearance: Danish, white, blond hair, Viking braid, goatee and beard, Light blue armor

Abilities: slash, blademaster, shadowstep

Equipment: frost bomb, e.x.o. armor, scatter shot, hunter's axe, bolt caster


	3. The Shrine

**Hello everyone! Thank you to those of you who decided to read this, admittedly, strange crossover. I honestly doubt anyone would think of an XCOM SMT cross. I'd also like to thank those who reviewed, knowing that my work is being read and seeing that you enjoy it motivates me to keep writing when I can with my life. I'm a little excited today 'cause I'm going to see Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom today and I'm a huge JP fan. Anyway I hope that you enjoy this chapter and let me know. Don't forget to review, follow, and favorite.**

 **I own nothing except for my OCs.**

"talking"

 _"thoughts"_

 **"powerful"**

* * *

Chapter 3: The Shrine

Months Prior

Naoki stood once more in the chamber within the Labyrinth to speak with the two resident high powered beings. The red curtain lifted to the same scene of a study with the old man and his black veil wearing aid seemingly remained exactly where they stood since his last visit. All around them, the eyes of lesser, but just as dangerous demons peered onto the encounter.

"It has been some time since our last meeting young Demi-fiend. You have made a place yours and within it your will is absolute. You have entertained my master very much so since we first met all those years ago," the woman said with a faint smile. "And yet you are here once more. Why?"

The ruler of the Vortex World smiled. "Well I ran into something of peculiar interest. A version of Earth dominated by aliens and a human rebellion against them. I'd normally leave them alone, but then a curious thought came to me. I was hoping your master may help me in my little…project since it will no doubt be entertaining."

He told them of his plan. The idea earned an amused chuckle from the old man. He had their attention.

* * *

Present Time

The command center of the Avenger turned into pandemonium when the doors slammed shut. Communications fizzled out and the computers all had the same red text flowing through them. But the audio was the worst thing XCOM were picking up. Curses in long forgotten languages, screams of uncountable people in fear and agony, and bestial noises of creatures no ADVENT force had that they knew of. The noise was so maddening, many threw off their headsets in panic at the disturbed sounds. And yet this all lasted for only ten terrible seconds.

All the while the Commander, while shocked, stood as a stalwart pillar of clam in the insane hurricane. When others looked at him, they could feel their hysteria ebb away back into military discipline they maintained throughout their war with the aliens. Still the experience shook them all.

By the time the 'assault' on the ship's systems were done, people were shaking and not eager to put their earpieces back on.

Lily Shen broke the silence. "Tygan, do we have any idea what that was?"

"I…cannot even begin to hypothesize on what that was," the scientist replied.

"That was…horrible," Bradford said quietly. "I could've sworn I recognized some of those screams from when…"

"From when the first base fell and the aliens succeeded. I heard them too Central," the Commander said with traces of guilt. But just as quickly, the leader of XCOM snapped out of it. "What is the status of the team?"

Bradford looked worried. "Menace 1-5 do you read us?"

"…About time Central. Any ideas what that was?" Kelly asked.

"No ideas yet. Did you receive strange audio as well?"

"Audio? The whole shrine was making that noise damn it!" shouted an angry Jorgensen.

"So it wasn't just us," Shen pondered before catching something. "Wait did you just say shrine?"

"That would be correct Shen. Some voice spoke to us once we were all inside. Called this place the Shrine of Amala. Then the door shut and the crazy started, it even got through my own psychic protection," Wilson said.

"Can you see if you can move the door?" Central asked.

"That's a negative. Even if I had my entire bomb kit, I'd doubt it would help us here," Kou pouted.

"It seems they will have to go through the 'shrine' to find a way to unlock the door. We can't say for certain what is waiting inside, but ADVENT forces are bound to be there. An entire unit does not simply vanish without some explanation," the head researcher stated.

"You heard'em 1-5. Stay on your toes and find a way out of there," Central ordered.

* * *

Shrine entrance

"Understood Central," Jane said.

She checked her gun again before looking at the squad. They were all pretty shaken, but Yuna seemed to get the worst of it. The poor girl was in fetal position, covering her ears and sobbing.

*Sigh* "Alright team, we've got orders," Kelly snapped off.

"G-give me a m-moment sir," Takami said. She fought to stand up after the fiasco that took her strength from her. Who wouldn't after hearing the screams of her former teammates again. She took deep breaths as El-Hashem and Kou steadied her. "O-okay captain. I'm ready."

"Right, listen up people! Our objective just changed to us figuring out a way out of here. Let's make sure we all get out safely okay?"

"Yes sir!" the squad replied with courage.

The team examined the initial room as they made their way to the stairs. The doorway that split the staircase was the most prominent. More of the energy seemed to be centered around the door's center, which held the appearance of an odd number six.

"Looks like this door needs a key Enforcer," the sharpshooter said.

"Agreed. Keep your eyes open."

The hallway they went through had more of the shrine's bizarre cubic motif. It almost looked like pixels from an old video game, Wilson said at one point. Kelly couldn't deny that feeling the walls gave off. Still the silence and inaction irritated them, making them on edge for no other reason than paranoia.

"Hold it team. Fang turn 45 degrees to your left," Tygan instructed.

The Danish soldier did so and saw what had the scientist's interests. Floating a few feet off the ground appeared to be some sort of cube slowly rotating. The sides had red glowing squares that shrunk toward the center of the surface. The squad mentally scratched their heads at the thing. It seemed harmless but the fact that it defied gravity made it more than met the eye.

Tygan spoke again. "Fang I want you to interact with the 'cube' to see if there is any kind of reaction or if it is possible to extract it for further study."

*Gulp* "Alright. But if this ends up blowing us to kingdom come, I'm coming back to haunt you Tygan," Jorgensen said.

The team's weapons were trained on the box as their comrade approached. His hand was shaking slightly as it came closer. He shut his eyes tight and went for it. Upon touching the cube, a pleasant sound, like the ring of a small bell, chimed and the cube divided into several smaller cubes. The sergeant became confused as his hand felt like there was something in his grip. Opening his eyes, he saw that he held a small bag in his hands. Inspecting the inside of the bag revealed there was some sort of currency in the form of coins.

"The hell!?" he cried out.

"Astounding!" the researcher said with excitement, "The cube seems to be able to hold objects of different mass inside a seemingly solid container. This may very well be an example of a pocket dimension."

"There may be more of these cubes throughout the temple. Menace 1-5, see if you are able to find anymore, they may be able to hold some unique thing for us to study," Bradford ordered.

"Understood Central," Jane answered.

"Hey guys," called Chun, "you might want to lock and load, we've got ADVENT!"

Sure enough, ADVENT troops were spotted with a muton escort. Pharaoh prioritized the shieldbearer and took it out, while Fist laid down suppressing fire on the group. His focus on the muton had the holo targeting on his weapon assist on Maiden's shots at it. The muton was gravely wounded and raged at her, but as it moved to attack closer it neglected to remember Fist's weapon was trained on it. In a burst of magnetic based propulsion, the ammo tore through the already weakened alien bruiser.

Chosen used his mental powers on a trooper, damaging its brain. Said trooper returned fire but with poor aim, and the psi-op finished the ADVENT off with a small burst of fire. Enforcer's shard gun made quick work of one trooper and went to get closer to the commander, moving from little cover available. The commander seemed to be desperately trying to call for backup, but seemed to be having trouble. Enforcer saw this, but used to opportunity to finish off the leader.

Meanwhile, Fang's bolt caster punched through the armor of one of the stun lancers as the other charged him. Drawing his tier two axe, he deflected the attack before kneeing his opponent in the chest. He went for the kill but was blocked thanks to the lancer's reflexes. The lancer kicked out to put some distance between itself and the ranger, but the plan backfired when Fang grabbed said leg and pulled him close. The last thing the lancer saw was an axe smashing into its face.

Once things quieted down, the team reloaded their weapons and observed the corpses. Yet as before, the bodies turned into red energy and were absorbed by the stone all around them.

"That is still freaky," Wilson commented.

"Guys I've got eyes on a sectoid," Takami said, "but it's acting kinda weird."

The team saw the aforementioned alien and it was indeed acting differently. It seemed to be starved as its bone structure seemed to become more pronounced. The creature seemed to be prostrating itself in prayer toward a series of images on the stone wall, the pulsing red energy of the lines made them stand out more. The images were of beings that seemed both angelic and more demonic in nature all looking toward a tower of some kind. The sectoid stiffly moved its arms in worship, but slowed to an eventual stop. It was then turned into more red energy and taken by the pictured wall.

"Never seen that before," Shen commented.

"No kidding. I thought they only followed or worshiped the Elders," Bradford added.

"This only confirms our theory that something extremely powerful is able to break the Elders' connections to their troops and supplant it with its' own will," Dr. Tygan interjected.

"Regardless, this is a significant find. Good work Menace 1-5. Continue exploring the temple," the Commander said.

"You heard the boss," Jorgensen says, "let's get a move on already."

Yuna cracked a smile. "Yeah. You know this is surprisingly more fun than I thought it would be."

"What do you mean Maiden?" asked Will.

"Well I mean aside from the weird goings on and the threat of ADVENT forces running around, this whole mission's been like one big RPG!"

"Hey you've got a point there," Chun says looking at the hallway they were traveling in. "I mean this whole place gives off a 'this is a dungeon' vibe, we found what equates to a chest with loot in it, random encounters, and growing lore about the place."

"And that means that there will most likely be a boss waiting for us with the item or thing we need to get out of here," Jane said seriously. She blinked when the footfalls stopped, and looked to see her team giving her a look. "What?"

"You don't seem to be the kind of person to play video games," Rahat said, resting his rifle in his arms.

"S-s-shut up and keep moving," Kelly spun back around to hide her embarrassment.

"Okay captain gamer!" Takami saluted with cheer.

The squad snickered as they made their way through the building. They encountered three other groups of ADVENT forces that were expertly dispatched with only a few grazes that didn't require serious attention. More sectoids were worshiping similar images from their first encounter, all withering husks as they debased themselves before the glowing effigies. They found more cubes that contained more odd currency, some kind of medicine and the stone currently the focus of Enforcer's attention.

Jane held the stone in the palm of her hand and continued to study it. At first glance it seemed to be a smooth rock, unremarkably grey with flecks of yellow. But carved onto the stone seemed to be a kanji for 'zio', not that she knew how to read kanji, and the thing also seemed to be sending tingles through her glove.

"Captain," spoke Wilson, "The secrets of that stone aren't going to up and tell you just because you keep staring at it."

*Sigh* "I know that Chosen, but this whole mission's been one mystery after another. I'd just like some straight up answers."

"Big room up ahead, if that door has any significance to it," David interrupted.

He was indeed correct as the door was not only large but more intricate in its design than the others. The lines of energy that decorated it, glowed a bit more here. Yet it seemed that whatever was behind the door gave off the same feeling of dread.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'd say that this is the boss room," Chun said.

"Yeah and hey, no skull key required," Yuna chuckled, but no one got it at first. "You know, Legend of Zelda?"

"~Ohhhh."

"I just hope that the way out of this shrine is behind those doors," Kelly lamented.

"You know now that I think about it, why is this even a shrine?" Kou asked.

"What do you mean," Wilson asked.

"Well we haven't really been seeing altars or things that denote any kind of worship. I wouldn't count the sectoids we've seen, they seem to be praising hieroglyphics, not really a symbol or idol. I'd say this is more like a tomb."

"Are you serious?"

"Well we've been finding 'chests' with treasure and there have been traps through this place. You tell me what kind of actual shrine has traps that isn't a work of fiction!"

"I don't know ask our resident Egyptian!"

"Hey leave me out of this!" El-Hashem pointed out.

"Enough you idiots!" Jane shouted as her patience wore out.

"I can't believe they're taking this so seriously," Takama says to Jorgensen. He nods in agreement.

"Stow it all of you!" the Commander's voice barked through their coms. "Just get ready for a fight. You can bet your collective asses that whatever's there won't be friendly."

Their discipline shined through as they snapped off a resounding "Yes sir!"

Opening the door, the team heard ADVENT lasers and alien plasma weapons firing. Kelly signaled for a quiet approach. She shifted into concealment again to take a closer look while Will would set the team up based on what she'd find. Thankfully the chamber had ample cover to move to from fallen pieces of debris to the three mec wreckages. As they moved into cover, some troopers stopped focusing on their previous target to fire at them. But that decision proved to be fatal as one was snatched by a cable of some kind in the direction of the shots.

The 'thing' they were firing at looked like an advanced ADVENT mec, but taken out of a nightmare. Its armor pieces were jagged and spiked. What were once robotic hands had become claws drenched in alien gore. Its optical lens glowed a terrifying red that held a deep malevolence and hunger. Organic tissue covered parts of its body and armor that dripped black liquid onto the floor. It had somehow gained a mouth full of bloody teeth, whether they were metal or bone was up for debate. Two additional arms seemed to have been both grown and grafted to the creature that had a large laser on the right and a buzzsaw for the left. A large tail with a spear point tip waved back and forth from its pelvic part. Cables came from its back like tentacles wrapped around the helpless trooper as he was torn apart and eaten. What wasn't consumed turned into energy and absorbed into the creature.

"Oh my God," Central could only gape at the thing.

"I can't even begin to theorize how such a being could be possible," Tygan said, unconsciously dropping his working tablet.

"Just looking at this thing feels wrong," Shen muttered as she rubbed her arms to fight off the chills the image gave her.

Then the horror opened its blood coated maw and spoke.

 **"MAgatsUhI!"** it roared, **"GIVe mE moRe maGaTSuhI!"**

"T-t-that fucking thing talked!" Chun exclaimed.

"Oh my God. Oh my God! OH MY GOD!" Takami freaked out.

Before things got too out of hand, Will used more of his solace ability on the squad. All at once the group felt their hysteria wash away to calmer mindsets. The surviving ADVENT forces weren't as fortunate, as was seen as they clamored over cover and each other to get away from the creature. Yet they maintained some core discipline, opening fire as they pulled back.

Lasor and plasma pelted the creature and burned flesh and metal. The thing roared and charged the retreaters, grabbing another trooper. The only muton of the group scored a hit on its face, burning that half. It snarled and fired a beam of red and black energy at the muton. The top half of the alien was vaporized, while the lower half dissolved into the stone. The amalgamation turned back to the struggling trooper and bit its head off before consuming the rest of it. Armor and all. As it ate, the damage taken by the continuous fire diminished.

"It's healing," Jorgensen observed. "It appears to feed in order to restore itself."

El-Hashem spoke next. "It seems we have a choice to make Captain. Take out the ADVENT to keep the thing from healing, or focus on the creature with their support and deal with them afterward. It's your call."

Jane paused for a moment to think. "Grenade spam. Chosen tosses his flashbang, then maiden throws her gas grenade while we all get into position. Fist, use your flamethrower and Fang shred that thing's armor and anyone else if you can. Pharaoh, use your grapple and get high to take any advantages. If there's a good chance to do damage, you better take it. I'm still hidden, so I'll try to get close to do some heavy damage on that thing. Let's move!"

And thus the plan was set for execution. Will threw his flashbang right in the middle of the group, but in view of the abomination, and fired off in a flash of bright light and noise. The troopers ducked behind cover or shot in the general direction of the thing, missing the whole time. Rahat zipped via grapple onto a ledge above the combat. Yuna slid into cover before chucking her own grenade into the stew of chaos. The gas jettisoned from its container among the miserable ADVENT, poisoning them. As they hacked and coughed, Chun cracked a grin as his flamethrower ignited and he shouted a gleeful "Burn!" at them.

Yet the combination of gas and fire had a unique reaction as the green cloud suddenly caught as well. The result was an explosion that finished off the ADVENT soldiers and knocked Kou back from cover. He took some damage from being so close to the combustion, but thankfully his blast padding covered for most of it. The creature also was caught and now had some of its organic parts burning and was leering at the downed grenadier. Fortunately, David had avoided the bombastic display of his teammate's passion for fire and promptly fired his shredder, ridding some of the armor off the being. It had now set its eye on the Danish operative and charged with surprising speed, catching the team off guard. Jorgensen tried to dodged but the walking mess of warped technology wiped out with its buzzsaw and caught the man across the chest.

"Fang!" the medic cried out as she fired. Wilson joined in to divert attention from their injured comrade.

Kou managed to pick himself back up and joined in the firefight, his holo targeting really helping out here. The hulking beast snarled and fired from its blaster, forcing the group to spread out and out of cover. Before it could fire again, El-Hashem fired his rifle at the joint between the arm segments and left the limb hanging there. Now missing its sole range option it charged one of the soldiers, but Jane had snuck close enough to shoot for extreme damage. The blast from her shard gun broke her concealment and surprised the creature and tore a hole in its side. In response, the tail lashed out and impaled Kelly's shoulder then flung her into the wall.

The team's sharpshooter continued his harassment, but the creature was now on guard. While a round grazed its shoulder, it threw some debris at the sniper's position. El-Hashem ducked but returned fire with a quickdraw from his pistol. Fist had to stop firing to reload his large, but thankfully the others poured on the pressure. Splitting the group had the added benefit of confusing the thing, as it didn't know who to target first. Out of randomness it charged the psi operative with claws flailing. The strike sent Wilson into cover with a claw scratch along his right side. Thinking fast Will responded with a soulfire that stopped the thing for a moment and heal him a little.

During the scuffle, Pharaoh was forced to reload, Maiden got to the downed axe wielder, and Fist finished reloading. The Chinese man opened fire to cover his British teammate to divert attention. But the way it turned gave the corrupted mec a view of the sniper reloading. Letting out a powerful roar, it charged the outcrop's base and began scaling the wall. Jane saw this and struggled to reach the mimic beacon at her side. Fighting the urge to scream from her shoulder wound, her hand found purchase on something round and she threw it with all her might. However, the pain and blood loss she was experiencing made it difficult to know what she was grabbing. So instead of the device that had saved her fellow XCOM members' lives, she had flung the stone they had found.

The smooth stone soared toward its target almost in slow motion to those in the room. Despair hit Kelly as she saw what she had tossed. Then all of a sudden a massive bolt of lightning came from the rock and toward the creature. The electricity surged into the amalgamation and it gave a pained cry as it froze and fell. Sparks danced across its skin and metal as it twitched in agony.

 **"GaH! nO! maGaTsUHi!"**

Enforce Kelly propped herself up, "This is it people. Take it down now!"

Her shard gun barked in her poor grip, but still hit the large target. Fang finally got up and hurled his spare axe, which got stuck in the shoulder. Maiden opened fire with a girly giggle. Pharaoh scored a critical as he shot off another arm with a yell of "Just die already!". Fist put a fresh round of ammunition into the thick armored hide roaring with his gun. Wilson used his psionics to inspire Fang to finish the fight off with his melee axe. Feeling the psychic boost, the Dane gave a guttural yell as he charged. The thing's paralysis ebbed as it saw the man charge it and lashed out with its buzzsaw once more. But the sergeant, in an act of pure adrenaline, leaped over the attachment and buried his weapon into the beast's chest plate. The creature shook and flailed around in a death throw that flung the battered neo-viking away. The man's Chinese companion managed to catch him. The team could only stare as the creature's organic tissue melted from its chasse onto the stone floor. By the time it had stilled, only small bits of tissue remained, but the twisted and distorted metal was also present.

The stillness of the room was oppressive from such a harrowing battle. Only breathing and pained grunts sounded in the room.

Chun put a hand to his earpiece. "Okay, did everyone back home catch that because we will **not** be doing that again."

*Snicker* "Well this was a thing," Yuna said.

Laughter filled the void as the tension from the past few minutes of intense combat left them. Even on the Avenger there was laughter. All through the fighting the bridge could only watch as their best team fought some horror to the death.

Will decided to pull out a reference. "You guys ever have shawarma? They were offering shawarma at the last settlement we were at. I don't know what it is but I wanna try it."

The blatant homage to that film sparked refreshed laughter from everyone. Even as Rahat said, "It's not much."

As the laughter died down the team picked themselves up and mended their wounds. Takami was busy using her hands and her gremlin's medical protocol, but still had time to throw barbs at Kou and Wilson. Jorgensen's front had a large cut from the buzzsaw that now was covered by darkening medical tape. Kelly's arm was in a sling and somewhat useless if she didn't want to aggravate the injury, but her stasis vest was helping her out. And Wilson's side was still sore even with his abilities.

The Commander chose to speak now. "That was some damn fine work Menace 1-5. Damn fine! Excellent planning and execution Enforcer, you've all earned some rest and promotion when you all get back." Then his tone became serious. "But I want you all to know that you were lucky in this fight. That thing was unlike anything we've encountered and you all might've bitten it if it hadn't been fighting ADVENT forces or it there were more of them. It goes without saying that whatever the aliens managed to piss off, goes into the realm of the irrational if that creature can be called as proof. It'll probably get more dangerous from here. Just find a way out, we'll have B-team pick up the corpse and anything not bolted to the stone."

"Understood sir," Jane responded.

El-Hashem zipped down from his perch to meet up with the others, cradling his sniper. As he passed the corpse of the monster, he noticed something shiny amid the decay. Carefully reaching down, he plucked it out of the tar like rot. It looked like a worm of some kind in the shape of the number six. Then he remembered.

"Captain!"

"Yes sergeant."

"I believe we have our ticket out of here," the man said as he displayed his finding.

"Way to go Pharaoh!" Chun said with a grin.

"Good eye mate."

"I just may have to show my appreciation when we get back," Yuna said seductively.

"…um…no thanks," the Egyptian said.

"Well, we've got the key. So let's get out of this fucking temple already," David said as he retrieved his throwing axe.

"Alright team, let's move out!" Kelly barked.

Retracing their steps was slow going due to their wounds, healed or not, and somewhat tedious. But the temple seemed to have taken on a stillness one would equate to holding their breath. A quiet before the storm. The team was still on edge from their current weakened state, and the silence did not mitigate it. When they reached the entrance hall they noticed the pulsations of red energy seemed to be blinking more rapidly than before. Rahat gave the key to Jane and she approached the door.

The strange key fit into the hole and the stone lifted upward. The team hurried inside hoping that there would be a pathway out, but those hopes were dashed. The room was rather large with steps that came to the center of the octagonal chamber. And in the center of the center seemed to be some kind of relic. The item was a large metal drum with a three leg stand and covered in symbols and lettering. The thing pulsed with power.

"Soooo where's the exit," Kou asked.

*SLAM*

"The door!" El-Hashem cried.

"Oh come on!" Jorgensen complained.

"Could this possibly get any worse~" Takami said. Everyone gave her a look. "What? I said it sarcastically, so we're safe."

"Hehehe. Are you sure?"

The team looked to see a little girl in a blue outfit. Jane recognized her instantly.

"You!?"

The girl didn't respond. She just gave a smirk. The girl's hand touched the drum and the letters began to glow blue.

"Men-*static* 5 we're get- *static* -jor interference. Respond!" Central tried to reach them.

The girl continued to grin as her hand moved, causing the drum to begin to spin. The drum spun slowly before picking up to incredible speed. Black lightning with a blue tinge danced from the device and snaked through the room. The team dodged but it mattered little. Then the world seemed to explode with light. Captain Jane Kelly's last coherent sight was the little girl smiling with expectation.


	4. Hospital?

**Back with another chapter everyone! So far so good with the positive feedback which makes me happy. I do wish that you as readers would vocalize what you liked about it some more in reviews, but I am thankful to at least get readers for an admittedly obscure idea. I had a lot of fun with Fallen Kingdom and highly recommend it in case you haven't seen it yet, it is a love note to all JP fans. Anyway now's the part that starts to dive in more to explainable for the squad. Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review, follow, and favorite.**

 **I own nothing except for my OCs.**

"talking"

 _"thoughts"_

 **"powerful"**

* * *

Chapter 4: Hospital?

Jane felt herself falling. Wind whipped past her ears but her eyes remained closed.

 _"Isn't falling supposed to wake people,"_ she thought as she continued to fall.

Then the feeling stopped and she felt her armor and cloths being pulled. She fought to open her eyes, but could only manage a crack. All she saw was a pair of monstrous yellow eyes before pain erupted from her insides.

Kelly screamed as she sprang up from the vivid nightmare. She panted and searched her surroundings. The room was sterile and white with beds and curtains. On each bed was one of her teammates who were also resting. She made note that all their armor and clothes, save for legs, had been stripped away, leaving them all shirtless. Though they left the girls with their bras thankfully. She saw no sign of their weapons anywhere, nor did she see any tools they could use to defend themselves.

She decided to look over herself and noticed her hands and arms had some odd tattoos on them. They looked like vines and had a few leaves in their design. A blue glow, similar to that drum from before surrounded the black lines. Her hands tingled a bit for some reason. Thankfully the markings were only on her arms and she examined her shoulder to find it healed. In fact, she felt amazing and energized, more so than she had in a while. It reminded her of when she had just come back from the mission that rescued the Commander after twenty years, a true kickstart to their resistance effort.

She took a breath and swung her feet off the bed to stand up. She staggered at first as her legs found their strength again and resolved to examine her team. Her squad seemed to have been healed as well, but also had arm tattoos of their own. Wilson had odd crosses and feathers with the lines. Kou's were like barbed wire and some blades. El-Hashem had snakes instead of some lines. Takami has arrows, hearts, and crescent moons on her forearms. And Jorgensen's markings looked like they were claw marks or bites.

"Guys up and at'em!" she yelled.

"Ugh, what the hell captain?" Kou grunted miserably.

"Why Kelly, why?" El-Hashem complained.

"Aww, and I was getting to the good part with those five guys," Takami whined.

"TMI you damn nympho," Jorgensen growled.

"Wait a tic cap, we'll be right as rain and ready to go," Wilson said as he stretched.

"We don't have time," Jane bristled from their tired responses.

"Come on Kelly I know the medbay-"

"We're not on the Avenger you morons!" she interrupted the Japanese specialist. "We never extracted and our gear is gone!"

"WHAT!?"

The team scrambled out of the bedsheets to confirm her statement. They saw the stark cleanliness of the room and their lack of weapons and tools. The markings though were a mixed bag.

"Okay, how drunk was I that I agreed to have these," Chun waved his arms in front of them, "printed on my arms?"

"That's not how tattoos work," Yuna said blandly.

"I know that."

"I don't think you do."

"Can you guys quit arguing for two seconds you tits!" Will shouted.

"Damn it they took my bolt caster. I _like_ my bolt caster," David ground out.

"I know how you feel man," Rahat said missing his trusty sniper.

"Uh, who's the they in this whole thing?" Chun asked.

"Never mind all that, we need to move out," Jane said, slipping into her command role.

They braced themselves for a possible encounter with their captors. The door was, surprisingly, a Japanese style door which slid. Cracking the door slightly, Kelly peaked out into the hallway to see only a dimly lit passage. Seeing no visible threat, she opened the door fully and quietly to continue their excursion into the unknown building. The eerie silence was only disturbed by their boots on the solid concrete floor.

"So, any clue as to why our new tats double as glow sticks?" Yuna asked.

"No idea," Jane said bluntly, cutting off the conversation.

They spied a door with a symbol like the drum they found in the shrine. Peaking inside they saw the same drum from before in a room exactly like the one in the shrine. Not wanting to have a similar experience, they made note of the room and left it as it was. Another door they found was big and metal, but locked. The hallway came to a point that looked like elevator doors behind and open barred checkpoint. In front of the bars was a floating ball of light. Being curious Rahat came up to it, and when he got close enough the ball shifted.

The orb expanded into a shade in the form of a dejected man. Then he saw them, "What are you all looking at? You act as if you never seen a soul before. What strange beings you are."

"Did that guy say he was bloody a soul?!" Wilson whispered in a panicked tone.

"What do you mean?" El-Hashem asked but the soul refused to speak further.

"Let's move on. He ain't going to talk to us," Jorgensen said. "Maybe he's not the only soul here. We can ask others."

They moved passed the bars and went up to the door. Yet as they stood before the door, a sense of foreboding surrounded them. Not even the psi op's solace ability could block out the malevolent aura. But regardless, through sense of duty or sheer stubbornness, they pressed on.

Suddenly some black smoke obscured their vision and upon regaining it they noticed they were not in the same place they were before. The elevator doors had taken them to a foreboding hallway. The walls seemed to be one tunnel of red energy. In fact the very air appeared saturated in the stuff. Before them, it looked like the way was flooded with water, but from the redness it could be mistaken for blood.

"W-w-what the fuck?" the Danish ranger breathed.

"Am I tripping out? Will I thought you could prevent this kind of shit from happening," Kou said.

"Believe me bloke I would if I could. But whatever this all is, is more powerful than I am," the Brit said.

A flash of light blinded them temporarily. Then a young man stood before them with a gorgeous woman by his side. The man was in a suit but they could see he had markings on his hands and face similar to their own. The woman wore a blue dress and held an ethereal beauty with her red hair done up in a tall bun. She had a look of amusement while he had his eyes closed in pondering. Miraculously the two stood on the water, but the squad almost paid no mind to that. Instead they were fighting the oppressive power these two displayed just by being close to them. Each member could feel a sense of fear, helplessness, awe, and, oddly, slight hunger. Then a voice spoke in their minds.

"Come…show me strength…worthy of demons."

Then as suddenly as they appeared, they vanished.

"…okay, anyone want to take a guess and say we're in the Twilight Zone?" Yuna asked.

"Seriously not the time girl," Jane moaned in frustration. She was fighting the shaking her body was experiencing.

"Let's press on," Rahat said as his breath steadied.

They took measured steps into the water, thankfully it was just water. They found another cube, like the ones from the shrine, containing two medicines. They gave them to Takami to hold onto, being the combat medic she is. As they moved further down the hall, a black pit opened up and in a flash of blueish lightning the team was surrounded on all sides by glowing orbs. However, these orbs were not like the soul they encountered, but more chaotic and unrestrained with a monstrous face to them.

"eAt!"

"HuNgerY!"

"I EaT!"

"mAGatSuhI!"

The odd hunger in their voices was unnerving. Then the squad felt pain as red dots were taken from them and eaten by the purple balls.

"What the hell?" El-Hashem asked.

Kou had a different mindset. "Get out of our way!"

With a defiant shout, the large Chinese man swung his fist at the incorporeal beings-and made contact. The orb gave a pained cry.

"OwwW. I hURt!"

"Damn right you hurt asshole!"

Chun finished off the thing with a kung fu style kick. The creature dispersed in energy. Seeing that these oddities could be killed, the team leapt into combat. Their hits brutalized the specters, though said specters did not go out without fight. The fight lasted only forty seconds of violence. With the fighting done, they were awarded a small bag of the currency they received in the Shrine of Amala. Yuna then spotted another ball of light, this one a soul.

The ball formed into a man in a lab coat with a hypodermic needle. "Greetings, I am Doctor Dark. By the will of my master I shall heal your wounds."

Suddenly a bright light flashed around each of them-and they felt much better. Their wounds with those things earlier were gone. Jane made to interrogate/ask the soul about where they were but the 'man' beat her to it

"While I am forbidden from giving answers at the behest of my master, feel free to return to me should you require rejuvenation."

"Right…we should move on before Takami starts wanting to get her ghost on," Will said.

"Hey! I'm not that easy. Right guys?"

The team was already moving on, almost leaving a pouting Japanese teammate behind. The doors seemed to be free of any flooding but they couldn't stay at these points to dry off if they wanted answers. The next hall forked into two paths. Before they chose a path, the two people from earlier showed up once more. This time a woman's voice came to them.

"Show us…power worthy…of demons."

They vanished again.

"It's only been two times, but its already old. When are we going to get some answers?" David asked in a low growl.

"Be on guard, this is another test," Kelly sounded off.

Sure enough they were encircled by small imp-like things that moved stiffly, but whose eyes held some dark mischief. They hopped like frogs as they attacked, catching all but Kelly with powerful slashes. El-Hashem staggered from the blow and the imps took advantage to strike again. Kelly's anger spurned the tingling in her arms to intensify until they began to spark with electricity.

"What the Fuck!?" she exclaimed. She would be asking the question, but her squad member was in danger. "Ahh screw it!"

She lashed out and sent a bolt of lightning at some of the imps. The sudden power forced the ones not hit to scatter away.

"Captain?"

"Questions later, let's just go with it," she said.

Kou cracked his knuckles as fire covered his fists. Chilling cold emanated from Jorgensen's arms, his smile just as frigid. Wilson and Takame's gave off light and darkness respectively. And El-Hashem felt wind whip around his enclosed fist. Each of them pointed a marked hand at one of their opponents and mentally pulled the trigger. The elements tore into the batch of baddies, burning and blasting them to bits. The two that survived charged heedless of the danger and were finished off from punches from Yuna and David.

"Tch, not so tough now are you bastards," the Dane quipped.

"Okay, I take back any negative comments I had about these tattoos. They are awesome!" The pink haired Japanese woman cheered.

"We need to keep moving," Wilson said, also getting over his own awe.

They dealt with one more ambush, but were more than ready this time with their new tricks and strength. Making it to the end of the tunnel they passed through the last door. The chamber was large and had a background that that gave off the feeling of being in a lava lamp. Once more the man and woman were waiting for them.

"Truly remarkable," the man said. "Continue to impress me. The freedom you seek for your world may depend on such strength."

The man opened his eyes and looked at each of them. They flinched at the soul piercing yellow eyes that held mirth, wisdom, malevolence, and darkness. The man's power grew as he began to laugh and their reality melted around them.

When their vision cleared they were once more back in front of the elevator, unnerved at their whole experience.

"So…can we all agree that never happened?" Chun asked.

Kelly's arm sparked in electricity. "Unfortunately, we can't."

"Damn."

"We should keep moving," David said as he pressed the button to call the elevator.

Once it arrived they went in and rode it in silence. They were let out in what looked like the main lobby of the hospital. The place was just as barren as the sub-level, but they did find some things.

"Damn look at the date on these magazines," Rahat said, picking one up. "This shit's from before the first war."

Yuna examined another one more closely. "Well they're in Japanese so I can read them at least. Unfortunately, mine's on cults and some kind of ritual. *Whistle* This is some dark stuff. It even links the cults to some murders that happened at the time."

"They seem well preserved for being almost fifty years old," Will said.

"Guys I got bad news. The exits blocked off," Chun said, pointing to the mountain of dirt that spilled into hospital.

"Knew this'd be too easy," Kelly sighed.

David waved the team over. "Hey guys I found the map. Looks like there's another exit in the second wing of the hospital, the annex. There's a crossing point on the second floor here."

"Good job Fang," Kelly complimented. "Alright people let's make for that crossing. Let's not use the elevator, I don't want to be trapped in one if the power fails."

They unanimously agreed with that assessment, Yuna more eagerly than the others. The team made their way up a staircase to the connecting point and looked around. Thankfully an exit sign was glowing above one of the doors so it took almost no time. The walkway was glass covered and had fake plants running along the side of the way. A glass door cut the walkway in half with a key terminal beside it. Boxes were piled up on the opposite side of the door, but they were more focused on the thing floating on their side.

It floated a few feet off the ground and was going around the door with a nervous flutter to it-she. It was definitely a she with the noticeable figure it had on its diminutive body. Perfectly petite one could say. She had red skin and butterfly wings that beat at a slow graceful pace, save for when she was moving. She had red-blonde pig-tails and black hair on her head. Her outfit was a stylish Chinese dress and slippers.

"Oh what am I going to do? I promised Pixie I'd meet up at Yoyogi Park. But I need a pass-key-thing to get this stupid thing open," she said in a melodic small voice. She stopped when she heard the door close behind the team and stiffly turned around. Her little green eyes bulged in fear. "KYAHHHH!"

She dove into the faux shrubbery, making it rattle with her shaking. The squad of alien killers were stumped at the creature. It didn't seem like an alien, far too human looking for that despite the features. Ignoring but not forgetting the thing, they went over to the door.

"Maiden, think you can hack this?" Kelly asked, gesturing to the terminal.

The pink haired Japanese native shook her head. "Sorry, I'm only good with software and besides I'd need my gremlin in order to do it."

"So we're gonna the key card to get by. Shite," Wilson shook his head.

"That's it! A key card-GAH!" the creature spoke as Fist grabbed it out of the fake vegetation by its wings. It struggled and started to panic. "No please don't eat me! I don't have a lot of magatsuhi anyway!"

Chun shook the fairy-like being. "Will you calm down. Eat you? We don't even know what the fuck you are."

The red skinned female started to calm down a bit. "R-really? You've never seen a Hua Po before? We're not all that rare you know. And more over, what the heck are you guys? You don't look like demons, but you definitely got magatsuhi in you."

The squad was perplexed at the supposed Hua Po's response.

"Uh we're humans, duh." Yuna answered.

The Hua Po raised an eyebrow. "Come on, humans? Yeah right. There haven't been any humans here for years. Though I did hear that there was a sighting of a human woman that came through a few months back. But the only things that've been coming to the Vortex have been those weird ADVENT guys."

The mention of ADVENT brought focus to their strange predicament. While battalions of ADVENT were sent to the Amala Black Site, none returned. This meant one of two things happened: either they were all slain or some of the aliens had made it to this place. Jane decided to step in.

"Alright look, why don't we help each other a bit. We've got some questions you could probably answer, and you look like you could use some help getting the key card."

Hua Po narrowed her eyes. "Is that a crack about my size? I'll have you know I can throw a mean agi spell."

"See that's why we need answers. My team and I have no idea where we are or what you're generally talking about. We just need to get back home."

The diminutive girl pondered a bit before nodding. "Well okay. If I was in your shoes I'd probably want answers. Tell you what, you help me get out of this place and I'll tell you what I know."

"Deal," Jane nodded to Kou and he released her. Hua Po caught herself and floated to everyone's eye level. "First off, where is here exactly?"

"…a hospital?"

"No, I mean what area is the hospital in?" Kelly didn't want to be near any of the gene clinics since they didn't have their gear.

"Hmmm, I can't remember the exact name, but I think it begins with Sh-something or other."

"That's helpful," David muttered.

"Okay how about where in Japan are we?" Kelly continued.

"I don't recall any place called Japan in the Vortex."

"What's the Vortex?"

"The world silly. This is the Vortex World."

A chill went down their spines. Will asked tensely, "Do you mean to say we're not on Earth anymore?"

Hua Po tilted her head. "Which Earth are we talking about?"

"What do mean which Earth!? There's only one!" Rahat shouted, his nerves strained from the whole situation.

Hua Po hid behind Chun from the man's volume. "W-well the Vortex resides in the space between many universes. What did Teach call it? Multiverse?"

"Ha! Pay up! The multiverse is a thing!" Yuna called out Wilson.

Jane pinched her nose. "Okay why is this…world connected to the multiverse?"

The red girl shrugged. "Dunno, you'd be better off asking one of the leaders or the Fiends."

"Who are they?"

Hua Po puffed out her diminutive chest. "They are the strongest demons of the Vortex World and only answer to the Demi-fiend himself. Well him and his wife."

"Oh come on! Demons now? You are still going on about that? Are you shitting me!?" El-Hashem yelled.

"Pharaoh, calm down!" Kelly ordered.

"No absolutely not! Look around us Kelly! We are in a hospital in Japan, had our gear stripped, wondered through that freaky ass tunnel, you shot fucking lighting from your hands, and this…thing is claiming that there are demons in this Allah forsaken place. That on top of everything that's happened since we started this damn mission!"

"Rahat calm down," Yuna pleaded.

"No, I will not calm down! How do we all know this isn't some advanced psionic hallucination those damn Elders and ADVENT have? Huh? You tell me!" he raved as he pointed to the frightened Hua Po.

Chun stepped between them. "Look man we're all stressed alright man. I feel you. But shouting at our only source of information isn't going to help things."

Jane noticed that Jorgensen had yet to join in and was looking out the window. "Fang?"

"…the squirt's right," he said subdued.

Jane followed his gaze into the clearing mist and saw what had him so spooked. From the clear windowed bridge, she saw old skyscrapers from before any alien contact. They were hollow with damage on some from what was seen. But beyond that was vast desert that stretched far and wide. Then even stranger, the edge of the world turned upward on itself, like they were on the inside of a ball. She saw seas of red water and other city locations. Towers from her perspective, and black spots that seemed to vanish in a void beyond this one. And all things seemed to have been centered around the very thing that floated in the very core of this abstract landscape, shining like a white dwarf as it bathed the world in a pale blueish light.

Kelly started to feel he rational mind breaking a bit from the impossibility of it all. Aliens she could deal with as they evolved on their own worlds to become what they were.

" _Even the hated elders had come from pond scum"_ , she thought to herself.

But what she was seeing, and the Hua Po's explanation clicked a bit to her. Demons, magic, the impossible, the improbable, it was all staring at her now. And her own insignificance in the greater universe was never more felt than at that exact moment.


End file.
